Ghouls 'n' Ghosts (Commodore 64) (gamerip) (1989)

If you're looking for some fine old synth music, stop and listen to this. This is Tim Follin's rewrite of the Ghouls 'n' Ghosts soundtrack- it's completely different from the usual rendition and it's amazing. The album starts off with a slow environmental first track that begins feeling weak but quickly pulls in all these synthesized sounds of ghosts wailing, bells tolling, thunder clapping, and hearts beating. The second track then eases you in with a good but lighter catchy beat until the album slaps you hard with The Village of Decay, when things start to get really good. Then, the whole thing just keeps getting more and more intense until Lucifer's Castle. It's a really great progression of sound that matches gameplay, which you don't find done nearly as well in other albums.

The whole album also balances a sort of a chiller low-key feeling while managing to pull in all these awesome music tricks. You find variety in instrumentation like this very infrequently: Within single tracks, new instruments are thrown in left and right- they never never feel gimmicky, they're all very distinct, and they are weaved together perfectly. It's masterful. 10/10. This is the kind of album that makes me want to go back and lower my ratings on other albums because it's a good reminder of how good early synth can sound.

That aside, there's also the regular tracks and SID Stereo. The SID Stereo is overall cleaner and more crisp, but the Commodore 64 can sound harsh at times (Continue and Game Over especially) with the regular tracks softening it a bit.

Everything can be recommended, but...
Particularly Great: The Village of Decay, The Crystal Forest, Lucifer's Castle
 
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